If you live in the Western World, your likelihood to be addicted to illicit drugs is about 2%. Softer addictions like alcohol and nicotine are more common at around 20%.

But there is another category of addictive substances that affects most of the population: all those irresistible, nutrient-free treats rich in refined carbs, saturated fats, and salt, collectively known as empty calories. The science is now becoming clearer on how these substances lead to consumption disorders and addiction, especially sugar.

Basically, these hyper-palatable foods stimulate the reward centers in the brain (like all other drugs), encouraging more consumption even when safe limits have long since been crossed.

This response comes from our evolutionary history where food was scarce, and binging was important for survival. In today’s world of caloric abundance, this outdated survival instinct has quite the opposite effect.

“Food addiction” remains a contentious term, mainly because empty calories are obviously much less addictive and harmful than illicit drugs like heroin or cocaine. However, while less than 2000 tons of cocaine are produced each year (most of which is successfully seized by authorities), the world uses 172 million tons of sugar.

Thus, even if sugar is 1000 times less harmful than cocaine, its effect on society is much larger simply because we use 100000 times more of it. In fact, empty calories are the single costliest burden humanity faces today.

Lightening this terrible societal burden is the primary motivation behind this article. If you’re prone to empty-calorie impulse buying or even if you just know you’re eating more sugary treats than is good for you, please read on.

The Five Levels of Empty-Calorie Detox

Below, you’ll find five detox levels, arranged from basic to complete. When considering these levels, remember that empty calories are not nearly as harmful pound-for-pound as illicit drugs, so total abstinence is not required. Even Level 1 can help you make a sizable dent in your empty-calorie intake to the benefit of yourself, your loved ones, and your society.

If I had to recommend a level to aim for, it would be Level 3. This is the Pareto-level where you can avoid 80% of the problems with only 20% of the effort.

I’ve been at Level 4 for several months now, and it’s been a positive experience that I will happily recommend to anyone who is serious about their health. However, I think the total empty-calorie abstinence of Level 5 could be a step too far.

So, don’t rush it! Empty calories are soft drugs and, unless you lock yourself away in empty-calorie rehab (no joke, society could use such institutions), pushing too hard too early will only end in a hard relapse. Thus, take it one step at a time and only level-up once you feel strong and motivated enough to commit 100%.

And when you reach a level you’re comfortable with for the long-run, that’s totally fine. Anything above Level 0 is a win for yourself and your world.

Level 1: Awakening

We all know that certain foods are good for us and others less so. But few people understand the true cost of our massive indulgence in nutrient-poor foods designed to make us overeat. In fact, the word “food” shouldn’t even be used to describe these slow poisons.

Simply taking a bit of time to learn just how bad they truly are will give you ample motivation to start your detox journey.

So, please take 5 minutes to scan through this article on the social costs of empty calories. That’s it. Five minutes is all you need to do to reach Level 1.

Following this exercise, you might notice some interesting changes in your mindset. Be mindful of this the next time you walk into a carefully designed empty-calorie ambush. Your newfound understanding of how much damage those brightly decorated packets of instant pleasure do to society should make it much easier to resist their charm.

Over time, this creates a powerful empty-calorie deterrent. For example, after all the hours I’ve spent researching this topic, I’m now more disappointed than tempted by the empty calories that lurk around every corner of the supermarket. Thus, I just sigh and walk past the temptation without wasting any willpower (which feels pretty good, to be honest).

Level 2: Upgrading

Unfortunately, the addictive allure of empty calories is so strong that most of us will need more than a simple intellectual understanding to break our addiction. Some gradual replacement therapy is a great tool to further increase our awareness. That’s why the next step is to become more selective about the sugary and fatty treats you allow into your body.

On this level, you strike a bargain with yourself to only indulge in top-quality culinary treats that contain at least some nutritional value.

Examples include premium dark chocolate, quality ice cream with berries, yogurt-covered nuts, and gourmet cheeses or cured meats.

Still allowing yourself access to these luxurious “somewhat empty calories” makes it considerably easier to permanently abandon all those cheap and dangerous “totally empty calories” like candy, cake and cookies, cheap chocolate and ice cream, potato chips, and soda.

The high cost of such “somewhat empty calories” will also naturally temper your consumption. You could start by working out how much money you previously wasted on cheap “totally empty calories” and set that as your budget for enjoying these premium treats.

Level 3: Governing

The third level is where you do for yourself what governments should have started doing for society long ago: make sure that you always pay the full societal cost when you buy empty calories.

The best way to reach this level is to draw up your very own charitable donations contract to govern your empty-calorie intake.

This contract specifies the amount you will pay to your favorite charity whenever you engage in any clearly defined act of self-sabotage. Purchases of empty calories should be the very first item on your charitable donations contract. My best estimate of the social cost of empty calories is $7 per 1000 kcal — a good foundation for these donations.

Give it a go! It works like a charm. Not only will this arrangement give a big boost to your health; it will also help you support some great causes. Helping others by improving yourself is an awesome feeling.

And don’t be put off by the word “contract.” It could be as simple as writing a quick note about how much you will pay which charity, signing it, and sticking it on the fridge.

Level 4: Designing

After you’ve spent some time at Level 3, you may realize something peculiar: Although your empty calorie intake has greatly reduced, your life has not gotten any worse. You might even have to admit that things are better now that you’ve shed a few pounds without even trying, enjoy higher energy levels, and no longer suffer from empty-calorie guilt.

When you reach this point, you could consider upgrading to Level 4.

At this level, you commit to designing your life so that almost all of it happens in environments free from empty calories (including common table sugar).

Your home is the first and most important of these environments, with your workplace second.

Implementing such no-empty-calorie zones involves some interesting psychology. If you do it too early, your mind might rebel and lead you on an empty calorie binge out of pure spite. But if you time it just right, your mind might accept. This is a surprisingly liberating state where you no longer need to engage in that annoying empty-calorie debate every time you pass the chocolate aisle in the supermarket. Instead, the decision is made beforehand and your mind quickly learns that there will be no debate.

You’ll also notice that your healthy, whole-food diet starts tasting better as your sugar and saturated fat tolerance reduces. In addition, the occasional quality treat at a special event suddenly becomes genuine bliss. Just like any drug, excess sugar numbs your experience of sweetness, making you crave even more sugar. Reversing this process is a deeply rewarding experience.

Level 5: Abstaining

The final level is to ban all empty calories from your life. If you’ve already reached Level 4, the small additional gains you can make from taking things to this final level may not be worth it. To be honest, I don’t know because I’ve never tried it, but as mentioned earlier, I’m skeptical.

There are several cases when “somewhat empty calories” are certainly worth their full societal cost. For instance, if you’re at a memorable celebration where the point is to eat, drink, and make merry, you might spoil the mood if you demand to be served exclusively whole foods. Similarly, if a friend invites you over and goes through the effort of preparing a delicious dessert, letting yourself freely enjoy it brings great social benefits. A delicious treat can also help soothe the pain when life has dealt you a serious low-blow (although you should be careful that this does not trigger a relapse).

If you truly commit to Level 5, your friends will learn that you don’t do any unhealthy food. You’ll just need to make sure that people know of your principles beforehand, almost like a vegan or someone who’s gluten intolerant. Thus, it’s certainly possible. I’m just not sure it’s worth it.

Be Clear About What Qualifies as Empty Calories

If you plan to progress through the levels outlined above, I strongly recommend sitting down and making some firm decisions on where you draw the empty-calorie line. As mentioned earlier, there are many “totally empty calories” that are open-and-shut cases. But there are also those “somewhat empty calories” that at least offer some nutritional value.

The most general empty-calorie definition I can come up with goes like this: A food rich in refined carbs, saturated fats, or salt you mostly eat for emotional reasons. And here’s an even shorter version:

Listen to your conscience. Deep down, you know which foods do you more harm than good.

Drawing a hard and firm line is crucial to avoid wasting energy and willpower on endless empty-calorie rationalizations. Trust me, an addicted mind can come up with extremely creative rationalizations to keep using. Don’t fall into that trap.

Other than that, I can only wish you hearty good luck! Although it might not feel so initially, life gets much better once you break your empty-calorie dependence. I sincerely hope you get to experience this for yourself 😊

Thanks to Alta Cloete.